


Till Death Do Us Part

by Mislav



Series: Season eleven [3]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Case Fic, Gen, Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-24 04:39:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4905787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mislav/pseuds/Mislav
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A sequel to my story "Past Sins". Takes place in season eleven. The team is called over to investigate a double murder and a child abduction. However, there might be more to the case than meets the eye. Meanwhile, Savannah seeks Derek's help after suspecting that one of her patients is being abused.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.
> 
> Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.
> 
> This story is a sequel to my story "Past Sins", that is a sequel to my story "Fall". I recommend reading those two first in order for this one to make sense. It is a case!fic: many focus on the case and some friendship and character dynamic throughout the story. No actual shipping, only Derek/Savannah and maybe Spencer/Dorian as a subplot. There is little to no Aaron Hotchner in this story. Just the story purpose.
> 
> This story takes place in season eleven, sort of like the third episode of the season, so I titled it " Till Death Do Us Part", which is supposed to be the title to an actual (yet to aire) third episode of season eleven.
> 
> Cast
> 
> Casper van Dien as captain Leonard Key
> 
> Oliver Hudson as Kyle Lake
> 
> Sean Dugan as Chuck Walsh
> 
> Tiffany Hines as Jenny Smith

The night was windy a cold. The moon was barely visible due to the thick grey clouds. The shadovy figure was breathing heavily, looking down at two dead bodies lyong on the bed in the nicely decorated master's bedroom. The petite looking brunette and a little taller blonde were staring up with the lifeless eyes, their hands still held together tightly. The intruder covered them up and rushed outside, only stopping to look at the empty crib near by.

#

It was a warm October morning and the sun was shining unsually bright. Savannah smiled assuringly at the blonde haired teenage girl who was lying on the table in her ordination, wearing a blue T-shirt and grey shorts with grada stains on them. She sat on the chair next to her and the girl fondled her hands together.

"OK", she said, taking another look at the documents in her hand. "You don't have a concussion. Just take a lot of rest and don't go to school for a day or two."

The girl smiled and climbed off the table, her legs still a bit shaky. "Great", she whispered. Then she turned to face Savannah. "How long will I have to take a break from the games?"

"For a week or two", Savannah explained sympathetically.

The girl nodded her head, a bit disappointed and acceptant, and then started leaving.

Savannah watched her walk away for a few seconds, contemplating something, before calling out: "Rita!"

The girl, whose name really was Rita, stopped in her tracks and turned to face Savannah, a slight look of anxiety on her face. "I... I noticed that you have a lot of bruises."

Rita shifted in place, feeling herself shiver. "I told you. I play soccer."

"This is the third time you've visited me in two months. With serious injuries. And I can rarely reach your parents."

Rita gulped, her cheeks blushing. "It's a tough game", she whispered before turning around and walking away, closing the door behind.

She was about to head for the exit when she felt Savannah's hand gripping her shoulder.

She spun around and Savannah handed her her card.

"Call me of you need anything and if you have any problems, OK?"

Rita said nothing. She just took the card and ran outside.

#

Sometime latwr that morning, at the BAU headquarters, Derek was walking down the hallway swiftly, almost getting late on a meeting. He was talking to Savannah over his phone, both trying to help her and to end the conversation as soon as possible.

"I don't know what to tell you, Savannah. There doesn't seem to be any clear indication of an abuse."

On the other end of the line, Savannah sighed, standing up from the cafeteria table. "I don't know, Derek. Something is off. I feel it."

"Contact the local police", Derek advised her, brushing by Rachel Dawson. "Or social services."

Savannah groaned. "I had cases like that. They don't do anything Unless something really serious happens!"

"Well, there isn't the much I can do either", Derek protested.

"Just do a research on her and her family", Savannah pleaded. "Maybe send somebody to talk to her. Please. I have a bad feeling about this."

"OK", Derek agreed half heartedly as he approached the glass door.

"See you later", Savannah replied before ending the call.

Derek shoved the phone down his pocket and walked into the conference room, closing the door behind. All the other team members were already there, just beginning to read the files that Spencer had given them. Derek took his file as Garcia stood up and walked over to the movie screen on a near by wall. She took a deep breath before starting. "Yesterday evening, an anonymous tip led to a discovery of two dead bodies in Philadelphia suburb." She clicked at the remote. Photographs of the two smiling young Caucasian women appeared on the screen. "Meet Trudy Morrison and her wife, Wendy. Found dead in their home, in the master's bedroom, on the bed, laying face up next to each other, both shot to death: once in the forehead and once in the right fist from a close range with a .22 caliber revolver. No match in IBIS." A few crime scene photographs appeared on the screen.

"Very specific ritual", David noted, rising his eyebrows.

"Signs of a forced entry through the back door, the perpetrator probably used a crowbar", Derek read. "The alarm was turned off, probably because both spouses were at home."

JJ was studying the preliminary autopsy findings. "No apparent signs of other violence, torture or a sexual assault, nothing under their fingernails, no valuables stolen."

Spencer frowned. "The report says that they had adopted a baby girl six months ago."

Penelope cringed. "Yes. A girl named Heather, now fourteen months old." She took a deep breath, trying to calm her emotions. "She is missing. A ransom note was found on the bedside table."

She clicked at the remote, making another crime scene photograph appear on the screen. The ransom note was written on a wrinkled piece of paper in a red ink. It read: "FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS IN CASH OR HEATHER'S DEAD. NO COPS!"

Spencer frowned, reading the note one more time. "No specific location or a deadline stated. Pretty messy handwriting. It is almost like whoever did that had barely thought about the ransom angle."

"It could be a forensic countermeasure", JJ suggested. "Setting police of the track, concealing an actual motive."

David sighed, feeling his insides twist. "Which probably means that the abduction is sexually motivated."

"Both bodies were covered, suggesting remorse", Spencer noted. "Maybe those were the undub's first kills or he knew the victims."

Derek sighed. "Or both."

"The anonymous tip was issued from a phone booth a mile away from the murder scene", Penelope explained before clicking at the remote. An audio file appeared at the screen. She clicked at the "Play" button. The slightly muffled sounds soon filled the room.

911 Dispatcher: 911 call, what is your emergency.

A silent voice of a young woman was barely audible.

"Please come..."

"What's wrong, ms?" Even the dispatcher sounded confused.

"Come to the Apple Street 28, they are dead."

"Who is dead, ms?"

"Trudy and Wendy!", the girl cried. The call then ended.

Penelope turned back towards her colleagues, an audio file still visible but not playing. "According to the preliminary voice analysis, person who made that call is an African American woman in her early to mid twenties who likely grew up in the area."

David sighed. "Well, that is helpful", he commented ironically.

"But she was fast. According to the autopsy report, the victims had been dead for an hour or two maximum by the time the police arrived."

"So, maybe she is a witness?", JJ suggested.

"Whatever is the case, the first twenty four hours are crucial", Spencer reminded them before he stood up. "We're leaving in twenty minutes."

#

The unsub walked over to the stroller in the dark corner of his bedroom, breathing heavily. Little Heather was lying face up inside the stroller, was just staring around with her big warm eyes, her face expresionless. The unsub ran his fingers down the baby's chest gently, looking her in the eyes solemnly, then ran his fingers up and undid the first button on Heather's pajama top, sighing as he did.

~OPENING ROLES AND CREDITS~


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.
> 
> Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.
> 
> Sorry for this chapter being so long, that is just the way it has turned out. The rest will be more balanced. This chapter will dwell onto the topic of child molestation (though strictly procedural wise), so it may be uncomfortable to read for some people.
> 
> This chapter is very case focused... later I will do my best go further explain how is Spencer dealing with being a temporary team leader and develop the Derek/Savannah subplot.

Spencer Reid: ~There were a lot of gods. Gods always come in handy, they justify almost anything.~ Margaret Atwood

All the team members had began reading the case files even before the airplane took off. JJ was sitting beside Spencer while Derek was sitting beside David. The sky was clear, bright sun beams reflecting against the windows.

"Phone calls don't reveal much", JJ noticed. "They mostly contacted with friends and family."

Spencer sighed. "No ransom demands yet."

"Judging by the preliminary forensic reports, the room and the door had been wiped clean of fingerprints", Derek read.

"Garcia is looking into InternMet activity and into sex offenders living near by whose victim type matches to Heather", Spencer elaborated. "We should probably go examine the crime scene and talk to the neighbors first, then talk to the family."

The rest just silently nodded their heads and went back to studying the files, trying to push the increasing bad feeling they had had about that case to the back of their mind.

#

Kyle Lake crossed his arms over his chest and looked to the neighborhood house closely before looking back at David and JJ. He was standing at his doorway, the front door slightly ajar. "I'm shocked, really", he said. "They were such a nice people... who could have done such a thing?"

"That is what we are trying to find out", JJ assured him. "Did you notice anything suspicious or out of the ordinary the night they were murdered?"

"I live here alone, I was watching TV and went to sleep at about eleven pm..." He frowned, shifting in place. "But I think I saw a car parked near their house. At about ten pm maybe."

"What kind of a car?", David asked.

Kyle ran a hand through his hair. "Uhm... blue. Or black. Ford, I think." He grimaced. "I don't remember anything else, I'm sorry."

"Do you know did they have any enemies?", David asked.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know them well."

David and JJ looked at each other solemnly.

#

In the mean time, Derek and Spencer were studying the crime scene: the victim's bedroom, that obviously hasn't been cleaned yet, though it had been forensically processed. They both had the latex gloves over their hands and the booties over their shoe bottoms. Spencer stood in front of the bed while Derek was searching the closet.

"They weren't wearing any pajamas", Spencer remembered. "A casual clothes. No evidence of bodies being majorly disturbed. The call was made shortly after their deaths, so they were murdered at about ten pm. Maybe he ambushed them shortly before they were about to go to sleep."

"The alarm clock hasn't been set", Derek noted, walking over to the bedside table. He continued moving around the room, looking about, before stopping in front of the small table near the bed. It had been decorated by aromatic candles, and there had been some melted wax on the edge of it.

"Candles", he commented. "A romantic mood." He gazed at the near by writing desk: it had been covered with home renovation magazines and papers containing some sort of prices written down. Spencer took one more look at the chair positioned near the bed, then concentrated on the family photographs inside the room. "It looks they were planning to re decorate", Derek concluded. "Maybe sell some stuff." He picked up one of the blank papers and studied it closely. "This appears to be the same type of paper used to write a ransom demand on. Definitely improvised."

"They appear to be a happy couple", Spencer mused. "Ten photographs of them together in the master's bedroom, on the walls, bedside table... some appear to be dating before they got married." He frowned. "Most of the new ones feature Heather too. A lots of them were actually taken here, in the master's bedroom."

He suddenly stopped in his tracks, studying one of the photographs and then a few others closely, before looking back at the bed. He eventually exclaimed. "Look at this chair." Derek turned to look in Spencer's position. "In all of the photographs it is placed in a corner. Now it is just right near the bed. I've seen no similar chairs in this room, on the photographs, or anywhere else in the house. And it doesn't appear that it was accidentally moved or knocked over. It is the same on the crime scene photographs."

"You think that the responding officers moved it?", Derek questioned.

Spencer shook his head. "I see no reason to, and there is no mention of that in the police report."

"Maybe he set up a chair, then sat down and watched them die?"

Spencer wasn't convinced. "By all accounts, both shots killed both victims almost instantly."

He started walking around the room, deep in thought. Eventually, he picked up the case file laying on a near by table and took another look at the crime scene photographs. His face lit up and he turned towards the bed almost instantly. "He covered them up. That shows remorse." He took one more look at one of the crime scene photographs. "But Wendy's hand had been moved to lay in a way that was exposing her inner side. The unsub couldn't have done that by simply covering them up and there are no other signs of bodies being moved."

"He wanted to examine the complete damage done to the body", Derek concluded. But something about that didn't feel right. "But that sounds more like a sadist. Such person likely wouldn't cover them up, even if he had known them or they had been his first victims."

He walked over to the writing desk and took one more look at the papers scattered over it. He bit his lower lip. "Preliminary police report showed no obvious signs of any valuables being stollen. But I don't see a laptop or a computer anywhere in here", he noticed, then turned to face Spencer, picking up a near by wire. "And this looks like a laptop charger."

"Why would he steal that and not anything else?", Spencer wondered. "Unless the witness interrupted him."

"That witness still had the time to call 911 at least half an hour later, and the crime scene looks pretty organized otherwise." He sighed. "Maybe it's the trophy."

Spencer shook his head. "Possible, but not likely. They usually go for the more personal and smaller idoms." It was then that he widened his eyes, his cheeks blushing at the sudden realization, a shiver going down his back. "Maybe we are looking for two killers", he near whispered.

Derek considered that theory while Spencer moved over to the bed, explaining his conclusion.

"Wendy was the first victim to the right. Whoever was sitting here would have had a better view at her. One party was sitting there, watching the dominant party control the hostages and murder the first victim, waiting for his or her turn. Then the dominant party allowed his accomplice to murder the second victim."

Derek nodded, slowly putting all the pieces together himself. "The submissive party is probably less dependant, less mature, less sadistic, so he or she manages to cover the bodies and steal a small valuable before fleeing the scene with the partner."

Spencer sighed. "So, now the question is: was the woman who reported the murders an actual witness or the accomplice to the murders?"

Derek continued. "And, in the case she is, is she having second thoughts about the murders and the abduction, or did she want the bodies to be discovered for some other reason?"

#

JJ did her best to appear calm and understanding while sitting beside Trudy's mother, Amy, a middle aged petite Caucasian brunette, in the interrogation room. Trudy was looking down at her trembling hands, her eyes watery.

"She was so happy when she married Wendy", she remisced, smiling slightly before choking back tears. "So happy."

"Was there anything... risky in their life? Did you notice anything unusual lately? Did they mention anything?"

Amy looked up at her, looking almost shocked. "No. They were just an ordinary couple." She wiped her tears. "Do Wendy's parents know?"

"They are coming from Miami", JJ said assuringly and warmly.

"When her father died, it was just me and her. And then she found Wendy."

JJ waited for a moment before continuing. "When was the last time you saw them?"

Amy shrugged. "For the 4th of July. They were so happy." The tears started building up in her eyes. "Please find Heather."

"We will do our best", JJ said.

"I have my savings", Amy said hopefully. "I can pay..."

"I'm afraid the money is not the motive in this abduction", JJ said carefully.

Amy felt herself shake as the realization sank in. She bent her head, tears running down her face. "Please find her", she sobbed.

#

In thr mean time, on the hallway, Derek carefully studied the passers by before repeating the girl's name to Garcia.

"Noted, chocolate thunder", she hissed. "I will find everything I can on that girl and her friends and family as soon as I can." She lowered her voice. "And I know that she has nothing to do with the case, so... may I ask you why are you so interested in her?"

Derek sighed, feeling something ache in his torso. "It is for Savannah", he whispered.

#

Late that afternoon, everyone were sitting around the table in the conference room, trying to think of something to get the investigation back in motion or, rather, waiting for a new information. They still had the files in front of them, but knew that going through them again wouldn't do much good.

"As expected, the ransom angle was a red herring", JJ concluded.

"Forensics recovered a foreign hair on that chair, they are performing the DNA analysis as we speak", Spencer reminded them.

They all shivered at the sudden sound of Derek's ringtone going off. He promptly pulled his phone out of his pocket, smiling upon seeing Garcia's name displayed on the screen. He answered and immediately put her on speaker.

"Talk to me, baby girl."

Her response wasn't nearly as sweet. "Thank you, my friends, for scarring me for life by making me look into the cases of men and women abusing the children of pre toddler age in many different ways", she commented with tremors in her voice that almost suppressed the bitter sarcasm. "But I think I have found the closest match."

"Speak to us", Derek said softly.

"Chuck Walsh", Penelope read. "Born on January 28th 1976 in Philadelphia to a single mother, Jessica. According to social service records and, later, prison psychiatric records, his mother was a prostitute who would often beat him as a punishment and/or force him to watch her have sex with her clients. She would sometimes allow other men to molest him in an exchange for money, starting when Chuck was as young as five. He was bullied in school due to his small build and detached demeanor and the school did little to nothing to stop it. He described that he started babysitting his teacher's daughter when he was eleven, starting when she was two months old, often having to change her diapers and bathe her. That lasted for a year. He said that he would only then feel truly happy and safe and that only that girl would show him any gratitude or love."

"He was going through puberty at the time", David explained. "Due to the abuse, in his mind, sex with adults or sexual attraction to his peers became repulsive and strange to him. He only felt comfortable around the young children. His previous experience with dolls only spurred that on. He started directing his sexual urges towards them. He developed a sexual attraction to them, and continued carrying one throughout his life", he concluded as others cringed. "And, probably, whenever he would be under stress or fail to form a relationship with his peer(s), the desire to give into those urges, to consume the love with the beings he had come to cherrish, would increase."

"But he was too selfish and deluded to understand or, rather, care about hurting them in the process", JJ cringed.

"Anyway, in order to get this creep fest over it... he was rushed to the hospital at the age of thirteen after his mother beat him over the head with the hammer. The mother ended up in prison, and he was moving from foster home to foster home. He eventually got a job as a male nurse in the children's hospital in 1996 and... more vomit inducing details soon coming... in 1997 another nurse was examining a two month year old girl that had been treated for heart tremors and discovered a slight rash at her vagina and a tearing inside her mouth. The police was informed. They found traces of saliva on her chest and small traces of semen inside her mouth. The DNA profile was extracted, no match in CODIS. Other children were given a detailed examination, nothing was found. DNA samples were taken from all the male employees, but of course not all could have been suspended. And the hospital did their best to avoid the word spreading. Schmucks. The families sued them later, nasty stuff. Anyway after three weeks, a match was made to Chuck's DNA profile and he was arrested. Other children were once again given a detailed examination and a slight tearing was recovered inside the anus of an eighteen month old boy that had been treated, about a week old. He was interrogated by the psychologists. Due to his age, the results were vague, but it was made pretty clear that a male staff member, likely Chuck, had molested him."

Spencer groaned. "He knew that he was under investigation and raped another child anyway. He couldn't control himself."

JJ sighed. "It is doubtful that he can now."

"They searched his house and found hundreds of photograohs and videotapes showing young children in his care, the earliest one dating two weeks after he got the job there", Penelope informed the team, the disgust evident in her voice. "And videotapes showing him abuse. In order to avoid the life sentence and ensure that he would be placed in a protective custody while in prison, he pled guilty of one count of sexual assault of a child in the first degree, one count of rape of a child in the first degree and multiple counts of possession of a child pornography in the first degree and sentenced to twenty five years in prison. The parents agreed, probabky to avoid going through the horrors of the trial. He was paroled on the grounds of a good behavior a year ago, after serving seventeen years. He lives four blocks away from the victim's house and owns a black Ford."

"Anything in the files about him what explains his murder ritual?", Spencer asked.

Penelope began typing away. "Ugh... going through the sick opus here... he was, aparently, resisting arrest. One of the female arresting officers hit him over the head with her bat and stepped at his right hand, breaking it. It was ruled a self defense. He claimed that it was an unprovoked attack and tried suing her, but the charge was dismissed."

David sighed. "That's our guy."

#

Spencer held his gun firmly before knocking at the door. Derek stood next to him, his gun already pointed to the door.

"Chuck Walsh?"

No response. Another knock.

"Chuck Walsh, open the door! It's FBI!"

No response.

Spencer glared at Derek, who immediately kicked the door open. All four agents rushed inside, with guns pointed, calling Chuck's name.

Spencer and Derek searched the living room and the bathroom.

David and JJ searched the kitchen, dining room and the bedroom.

In the end, they both raddled the garage.

But there was no sign of Chuck.

But that was the exact reason they started searching his house, after putting latex gloves over their hands and booties over their shoe bottoms, the mere minute after making sure that nobody was at home. JJ just returned from the bedroom while Spencer and David were searching the living room.

"He definitely lives alone", she notified them. "All the clothing in the closest of the same size, only one toothbrush and a one type of toothpaste in the bathroom cabinet."

Spencer looked up at her. "According to his employer, he called in sick five days ago. He hasn't seen him since. And I can't find his phone anywhere. Garcia tried tracking the signal, but with no success. It is either broken or turned off. We put a bono out on his car, but the vehicle doesn't have a GPS system."

Derek walked back into the living room from the kitchen, with an annoyed look on his face. "A real neat freak. Not even a speck of dust. But apparently the neighbors learned of his past. I've found several ripped threatening letters in the trash can and the signs of one of the windows being repaired recently."

"That might have pushed him over the edge", JJ said.

Spencer looked around the room. "Unfortunately, there isn't much in here that can point to where he is now or what are his plans. Technically, we can't even know for sure has he murdered Trudy and Wendy and abducted Heather."

"Look at this scuff marks at the floor", David suddenly noted. Everyone else turned towards him. "And how minimalistic area around the closet is comparing to the rest of the living room and the house." Hw locked eyes with Spencer. "Somebody had been moving it to the side and later back in place often, for quite some time."

Without another word, they both pushed the book case at the side, then looked at the wall behind it.

The small red door had been installed in it.

David carefully pulled out his gun, and so did Spencer. They both pointed their guns at the door, with Derek and JJ following close behind, before David kicked the door open.

But there was nobody in the room behind the door.

The room was small but tidy. It consitent of nothing but a writing desk to the middle and a chair in front of it. The agents holsterdd their guns and sighed, then walked inside.

"What is this?", JJ wondered. David coughed a little. The air was heavy in there.

"It could be a hideout where he molests his victims or views pornography", Spencer suggested.

"Well, there is no evidence of that", David complained, surprised by the lack of pretty much anything in that elaborately hidden space. Derek looked down at the floor near the writing desk and carefully stepped on that area, making a strange noise.

"Maybe there is. This floor boards appear disturbed", he noticed.

He kneeled to the floor and started pulling the floor board out, followed by Spencer doing the same to the board next to the first one. After they removed the four floor boards and put them aside, the image became clear.

"A laptop", Derek exclaimed, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

Spencer pulled out the device and placed it on a near by table, then pulled the lid open. He checked the Document Manager, then the internet history. The whole data was almost completely empty.

"I'll give it to Garcia to check it, but there doesn't appear to be anything suspicious on it." His conclusion was interrupted by JJ walking towards them, holding a small plastic device in her hand. "I found this", she explained.

"The USB", Spencer noted before taking the USB and plugging it into the computer, while JJ moved to the side.

After several clicks, the content became visible on the scree. Both Spencer and Derek groaned in disgust and looked away as hundreds of disgusting images appeared on the screen.

"Child pornography", Derek whispered as JJ bent over to pick up a piece of paper that she had noticed on the floor.

Spencer pulled the laptop lid closed, feeling his gut twist.

JJ walked over, still holding a receipt that she picked up from the floor in her hand. "Look. A coffe receipt."

David walked over, also holding a receipt, only a different one. "One more. From two different internet cafes."

"That is how he avoids getting caught", Spencer concluded. "He goes to an internet cafe, probably in a different neighborhood, saved the child pornography on the USB, deletes his internet history and drives back home. He only views the pornography on this laptop, he doesn't store it on a hard drive."

"He probably uses a different cafe every time", David assumed.

"And he build an entire secret room so he could get off on it with minimal risk of getting discovered?", JJ mumbled.

"It was probably there when he bought the place but he never used it and neither he nor his probation officer paid much attention to it", Spencer explained. "He just had to push the bookcase over it. Maybe it was already behind the bookcase and he discovered it by accident while doing some repair works or re decorating."

He was interrupted by an incomming phone call. He moved to the side to answer it while others continued examining the room, though there was obviously not much left to find.

"Hallo?", he asked. "OK. OK. We'll be right there." Spencer walked back amongst his team mates, trying not to appear too shocked.

"They found a male's body in a ditch near the Interstate 95", he informed them. "Shot once in the forehead and once in the right hand."

"We got the ID?", Derek asked.

Spencer nodded his head. "Chuck Walsh."

#

Spencer looked down at the decomposing body laying face up in a ditch near the Interstate, the whole area silent except for a few cars driving by. There was a big rock and a few branches on the ground around the body, but little else. It was close to night, the sun disappearing behind the clouds and the air turning colder. The medical examiner was crouching next to the body, studying it and collecting the samples, while the rest of the team stood near by. They all had latex gloves over their hands and booties over their shoe bottoms.

"So, Chuck and his partner got into an argument and the partner killed Chuck and kept Heather for himself?", JJ wondered.

"I don't know", Spencer disagreed. "It looks like Chuck's been dead for quite a while."

The ME chimmed in. "The early stages of decomposition. Build up in his eyeballs. He's been dead for four, maybe five days. It may be too early to say, but this appears to be a secondary crime scene."

"So he couldn't have murdered Heather's parents and abduct her", David concluded.

"Unless he had two accomplices, they got into a fight before committing the crime, he ended up dead and they carried out the murders and the abduction by themselves", Derek theorized with a sigh.

"It seems unusually complicated for a man who had no accomplices while committing his original crimes and had spent seventeen years in an isolated area of the prison", Spencer pointed out.

"He has no surviving family either", JJ agreed as Spencer bent over, something having caught his attention.

"He still had a wallet on him with his IDs and his watch and a house key, his phone that got smashed during the transportation, and one more key, so this is not robbery", Leonard noted. "We have yet to locate his car though. There don't appear to be any usable shoe prints or tyre tracks around. The closest security camera is ten miles away from here. This isn't a very traffic area of the Interstate, it makes sense that the body remained undiscovered for this long. The truck driver found it after his truck broke down."

"There are probably many people who wish Chuck dead, but there are no clear links between the three victims and such MO can hardly be a coincidence."

"What's wrong, Spencer?", Derek asked.

"This rock is pretty big", Spencer explained, not looking up. "None of the other rocks around are that big." He furrowed his eyebrows. "And, geographically, it doesn't fit here. There is some substance on it", he noticed, running the finger over the surface. "It looks like a melted wax. Dry now." He stood up straight and took one more look around the crime scene. "There is some on the ground around the rock, but not anywhere else on the scene. No evidence of the scene getting cleaned up either."

And that is when the realization hit him.

"The murder ritual may have a Bible origin", he exclaimed. The others glared at him curiously. "The unsub is marking them-murdering them-as sinners." He took another look at the body. "Revelation 13:16-18: "Also it caused all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so no one can sell or buy Unless he has a mark, that is, the name of the best or the number of it's name."" He widened his eyes. "That is the mark of the beast!"

David nodded his head after a brief considerationy "The victim type matches. A registered sex offender, a homosexual couple."

Spencer walked over to the rock. "In some areas of the Christian mythology, it is said that one a person is dying, you have to light a candle at his or her bedside, so the should would find a way to Heaven more easily. So, although they are murdering sinners, they show the last sign of mercy by lighting a candle near the bodies shortly before or after murdering them."

"Like good Christians", David commented sarcastically.

Spencer turned to meet Leonard Key's eyes. "Captain Key, I know that you are a homicide detective, but can you remember were there any non fatal hate crimes being committed in the neighborhood or the city lately, or maybe even some possibly hate motivated murders not apparently connected to this case?"

Leonard frowned and ran a hand through his hair. "I think that there were some arsons and vandalisms lately, but since none resulted in murders or took place in the suburbs, and in this case a child has been abducted and a ransom note left behind, I admit I saw little to no connection at first and thought that it wasn't worth a further investigation."

"We will have to look in those cases now", Spencer decided. "Maybe those lesser crimes have led to this. Maybe there is some clue there."

Just as he finished the sentence, JJ gulped, looking stunned. She took a deep breath before speaking. "Kyle Lake." The others turned to meet her eyes."The Morrison's neighbor. The door was slightly ajar when me and David talked to him. I saw a packages of candles in his house. He probably runs some sort of business related to them. And he had a cross on the wall."

"That doesn't have to mean anything", David reminded them.

Derek shrugged. "But it isn't rare that the serial killers start in their personal environmemt. He was their neighbor and lived four blocks away from Chuck too."

"That way it would also be easier for him to stalk them, get to know their habits", Spencer added.

David was growing more convinced about the theory. "And he is the one who said that he saw a car matching to Chuck's parked in front of the house on the night of their murders."

"The crime that we now know Chuck couldn't have committed", Spencer concluded before pulling out his phone and dialing Garcia's number. It didn't take long for her to answer.

"Hello, wonder kid. I mean, chief. I mean."

Spencer chuckled. "It's OK, Garcia. I need you to run a background check on Kyle Lake, Morrison's neighbor."

"OK...", Penelope agreed, her fingers already hitting at the keyboard. As all the data soon appeared on the screen, her jaw almost hit the floor. "Wow..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Did anyone else suspect the neighbor?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.
> 
> Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.

Everyone exchanged glares as Garcia's gasp settled in their minds. "What's wrong, Garcia?"

"OK... not what I expected..." She took a deep breath before reading the information. "When he was ten, his father, Anthony, was murdered. Kyle's mother, Vera, killed him in front of Kyle. It was later revealed that he was very controlling and often physically abusive towards both of them. The death was ruled a self defense. She and Kyle moved to Philadelphia." She frowned. "During the investigation Kyle admitted that he would often secretly watch the neighborhood family of a girl who went to school with him and fantasises about being a part of them. They were very religious, the father was a pastor at a local church. Kyle and his parents were officially atheists. Apparently who got bapthised at the age of twelve and received a confirmation at the age of thirteen."

Spencer crossed his arms over his chest. "Seeing his father get killed must have left scars on him. He started holding on to his faith as his only way to salvation, the only source of constant support, probably even before witnessing the murder. No wonder he grew up to be an extremist."

"Aaand this is where things get nasty", Garcia cringed. "He graduated from college at the age of twenty two and soon afterward married a woman named Lyndsay Bellinger, who took his last name. Apparently he met her at a local church camp at the beginning of the forest." She bit her lower lip. "They started having disagreement about a religion about a year after getting married. She got pregnant in 2009 but felt that she wasn't ready and got an abortion without even informing him about the pregnancy in the first place." Garcia felt her jaw clench as she continued reading. "He found out after the hospital staff found out that they had messed up the bill so they sent her the notification. He beat her up, like, brutally, then got to the hospital and wanted to speak to her gynecologist, that is when he got arrested. He plead guilty but claimed that his actions were justified and that he felt no remorse. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and paroled ok the grounds of a good behavior in 2014. Three months ago his mother died in a car accident caused by a drunk driver who had prior DUI arrests and himself got killed. He pushed for his mother to be buried on a Christian cemetery, but since she was never religious herself and neither had many finantial resources to organize such a funeral, she was buried on a regular one."

"That's brutal", Derek groaned.

"Probably his last straw", JJ said. "He feels that his mother died without a chance for an eternal life in Heaven and feels that the sinners and weak of faith have been harming him and the people he lived his whole life. Now he is on a mission to extract revenge."

"The fact that he had to live near a homosexual couple didn't help", Derek added.

"Not that he had much choice", Spencer provided. "He probably isn't making much money and the house was probably provided to him by his probation officer."

Leonard frowned. "That guy didn't even think that such environment may cause problems?"

Derek shrugged. "Well, it is tough to find houses for ex cons to live at, and he was neither a sex offender or convicted of a stricter religion motivated offense, so..."

"He has already murdered three people", Spencer pointed out. "With his accomplice."

David sighed. "And abducted a fourteen month old girl."

Spencer took one more look at the body. "Well, Chuck's body had been moved, but he murdered Trudy and Wendy at their house and left them there. If he had done the same to Heather, he would have probably left her there too."

"Maybe he thinks that there is still hope for her", JJ suggested. "That he can rescue her from the sins."

"But will he and his accomplice just leave her in an orphangage or a hospital... or keep her?", David wondered.

"Since Kyle probably already feels robbed of his own child due to his wife having an abortion and his accomplice is almost certainly a woman, the second option may be the more likely one", Derek said.

#

They were in front of that house the second time. This time to make an arrest.

Spencer and JJ pointed their guns at the door as she rang the doorbell. Derek was standing to the side, doing the same. David was standing behind them, gun pointed to the doorway.

"Kyle Lake?", JJ called out.

No response.

Another ring. Another call.

"Kyle Lake! It's FBI!"

Nothing.

She locked eyes with Spencer.

He nodded his head.

Derek walked over and, with one strong and well positioned kick, kicked the door open.

They all rushed inside, searching every room in the house, including the garage, within half a minute.

But once again, nobody was there.

Once again, they went to searching the house right away. And the results didn't look promising.

"No money in here, no clothing, no documents, no suitcases, not even a toothbrush", Spencer informed them.

"His car is gone too", JJ reminded them. "Black SUV."

"Garcia tried tracking his phone. Nothing."

Derek pulled out his phone, having received a call from Garcia: he hadn't put her on speaker at first after answering.

"What's up, baby girl?"

"Oh, so many things...", she purred, but quickly turned serious. Derek put her on speaker. "So, I've managed to gain access to Kyle's email address and the information connected to his IP address. Soon after his release from prison he signed up for a dating website. He soon started exchanging emails with a girl named Jenny Smith, twenty three. Apparently they were pretty close. No mention of anything illegal though, maybe they didn't want to leave a trace. She is all over his phone records as well. And yes, I know that that sounds dirty, but I couldn't resist."

Derek went through the information on his phone that Garcia had ensued to him and others, and stopped upon finding Jenny's photograph. "An African American woman in early twenties, grew up in the area." He spoke to Penelope again. "Run a background check on her, baby girl."

"Right away", Penelope agreed, the sound of her fingers hitting against the keyboard immediate. "Soooo... born in Philadelphia on January 16th 1992 to a Christian family. Her parents died in a car accident when she was twelve. She was sent to live with her aunt and uncle, who also lived in Philadelphia and were Christians. She had been seeing psychiatrists and therapists, apparently due to suffering from a depression following her parents's death, for two years afterward. At the age of fifteen a man physically assaulted her and attempted to rape her while she was coming home from school by herself. She claimed that he stopped after she started reciting The Lord's Prayer. The man has never been captured. She had been attending treatments for depression, again, for a year after the incident. Graduated college in 2014. She works as a website designer and part time writer. She published a book of poems titled "To Believe" in 2010 and a romance novel titled "Eternal Love" in 2012."

"Have you tried tracking her phone?", Derek asked.

"Yes, but it is too turned off or broken now." "But I've finished checking Trudy's and Wendy's internet activity. They had been selling their car online. Kyle responded two days before their deaths."

"Maybe that's how they let him, and Jenny, in", Spencer suggested. "That way it would be easier for him to overpower them. And then he estaged the break in so the police wouldn't get suspicious."

"And that is the real reason the laptop was taken", Derek added.

#

Derek was standing in the corner near the conference room, still keeping an eye on any kind of commotion as Garcia was imformimg him about her new findings.

"I don't know what to tell you, Derek", she cried. "This girl is spotless. As well as her family. No arrests. No suspicious activity on social media. Well... there is a one thing."

Derek furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

"A criminal record with her name on it, dating back a year, but it is sealed. I can't access it", Garcia explained.

Derek was confused. "She is still juvenile. The record should be available even if she has completed her sentence."

"I know, right? Weird."

A short silence ensued. Derek was trying to think of a solution, but nothing was coming to his mind.

"You should... should also know that I have discovered that she has seeked medical treatment from Savannah three times in the last two months", she said.

Derek sighed. "I know", he said before ending the call before walking into the conference room to join the rest.

Spencer took a moment to think about their findings before standing in the center of the room near the board, in front of the others, and plastering the first police report on the board.

"August 14th 2015", he explained. A mosque in Philadelphia, Southwark."

David sighed. "The same neighborhood where Kyle lived."

Another police report. "August 28th 2015. A synagogue in Avenue of the Arts, Philadelphia."

JJ walked over and plastered the third police report on the board. "September 18th 2015. A mosque in Philadelhia, South Street." She put the photograph of a torched building on it too.

And the fourth report. Even bigger torch site. "September 30th 2015", she read. ""New Chance", a private abortion clinic in. The bigger clinic of that kind in Feltonville Philadelphia."

"Used to be", David muttered.

"M.O. was always the same", Spencer recalled as he paced around the room. "The perpetrator breaks inside at night, vandalises the interior as badly as possible, then spills big amounts of gasoline both inside and outside around the place", he said, pointing to the crime scene photographs. "He leaves some cans full of gasoline inside, with a cloth tied to one of them, sets the cloth on fire and leaves. That gives him enough time to flee safely and distances himself from the crime scene before the fire starts. And when it starts, it spreads quickly and it is powerful." He sighed sadly. "Millions of dollars in damage. Experts estimate that all four establishments have been ruined beyond repair."

"Probably "they", JJ said. "It is likely that Jenny was involved in that too."

Leonard nodded his head. "One witness report states that the two people were seen leaving the scene, though there is no clear description."

"Within a few days of each arson, the local newspaper, as well as the precinct in the neighborhood where the arson would take place, would receive one letter, apparently from a group called "The Warriors of Christ", TWOC, taking credit for the crimes and explaining their motivations, as well as issuing numerous threats", David explained, picking up the copy of one of the letters and then plastering it on the board. "Always the same postal code, matching to the area where Kyle lived. All typed on a computer. Very common brand of an envelope, paper, printer ink and stamps. No fingerprints, no DNA."

"They call themselves a group, but from the forensic linguistic angle, it is pretty obvious that we are dealing with one, possibly two people imposing as a group", Spencer explained, then picked up another copy off the table and took a look at it before looking up at the crowd.

"Kyle and Jenny", Derek sighed.

"Look at the writing style in every letter", he remisced more than advised. "Always lots of adjectives, most of them repeating-strong, viciously, determinently-and he mostly quotes "The Revelation"."

"They want to feel more important, cause more panic, make more of an impact", David concluded.

"The crimes and letters have provoked quite the reactions. Several other mosques and synagogues vandalised. A homosexual couple was beaten up a week ago."

"Is he trying to start a religious war?", JJ asked.

David frowned. "His motives are obviously more selfish than he is trying to make them appear, but we can't rule out that possibility."

"Well, he had to get the gun from somewhere", Leonard brought up. "My guys are tracking down his former cellmates. We'll speak to the warden as well. The patrol car is placed in front of his house."

"The police protection has already been send to Lyndsay", Spencer explained. "Garcia has been manage to find about a similar case from the past. In 2001 a young man named Andrew Smith and his friends tied a young homosexual man to Andrew's car and dragged him through the neighborhood, killing him. They are all serving life sentences and the cases don't appear to be connected, but we have to look into that."

#

The night was pitched black, a clear bright moan visible on the sky. The black SUV was driving down the isolated road slowly. Kyle Lake wrapped his hands around the steering wheel tightly, once again making sure that nobody was driving behind him, before glaring at Jenny who was sitting on the back seat, next to Heather in the baby seat. Jenny just finished feeding Heather and wiped some milk of her chin with a napkin as she giggled.

"She's cute", Jenny smiled brightly, stroking Heather's hair. She turned to face Kyle, her eyes sparkling. "I think we make her feel safe."

Kyle blushed slightly, feeling a shiver go up his chest. "That's good", he whispered before looking back at the road.

"Do you think she misses them?", she mused, running a finger down the girl's face.

Kyle shifted in his seat, feeling his mouth go dry. He pondered about Jenny's question for a second before trying to push it to the back of his mind. "No point wondering about that", he said, trying to sound confident. "She is with us now."

"Yes, she is", Jenny admitted, remaining silent for a moment before looking through the car window solemnly. "We need to find a good home. For her. For us."

"Will we... then... stop doing this?", she asked carefully, trying to see Kyle's eyes in the view mirror.

"We will do whatever is necessary. As long as we are alive."

Jenny just stared at the headrest for a while. Suddenly, it was like a fire had lit up in her eyes. She leaned over and held Kyle's right hand, making him flinch.

"Together we live...", she whispered into his ear.

"Together we die", he finished, returning the hold.

#

The next morning, Derek sat at the desk in his office and felt his head grow heavy already while he was talking on the phone to Savannah. The weather was clouded and it looked like the rain was approaching. Only Spencer, in his office at the time, was already there.

"I don't know what to tell you, honey", he confessed. "There is nothing suspicious about that girl except for that sealed file."

"I've been going through her medical documentation. I can't tell for sure were her injuries really accidental, but something isn't right!", she cried.

"I'm afraid you can only wait for her to call you... or for something else to happen", Derek announced.

Savannah pondered her thoughts as she looked longingly to the distance. "Or I can go talk to her."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.
> 
> Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.

It was close to twelve pm. Jenny sat down on the bed in a small room, looking at the turned off TV near by. Kyle took one more look through the window before pulling the curtains on. He then observed Heather for some time. She had been sleeping in a child stroller placed in the corner.

"I have parked the car a block away", he reasoned. "Put on the licence plates taken from a junk yard. There aren't any securities cameras around. And the only thing the recepcionist paid more than a moment of attention to was our money. We'll be safe." He sighed and took one more look at Heather. "About her..."

Jenny stood up and walked over to him. "Baby, she's sleeping."

Kyle smiled slightly, nodding his head. "Yeah."

Jenny let out a chuckle and Kyle moved his hand up to gently stroke her hair as he looked at her lovingly. She blushed, then took a step closer. He didn't move away.

In the next moment, she kissed him. He moaned slightly, his demeanor growing rigid. Then she kissed him back, with more passion.

"It's a sin, Jenny", Kyle whispered, but he could help but inhale her scent.

Jenny shuddered. "I'm afraid, Kyle", she whispered. He put his hands on her hips and looked her in the eyes. "I need you." She kissed him again, with much force, licking the underside of his lower lip with her tongue. Kyle sighed and gently pulled away, his eyes wide and cheeks flushed. He licked his lips before crashing his lips against Jenny's, their hot breaths mixing together as his hands slowly moved up her T-shirt.

#

JJ was pacing around the small living space near the small forest outside of Philadelphia, remaining close to Derek, who was going through some papers. She was talking to Spencer on the phone. "We are searching the summer house owned by Kyle's younger brother, Jake", she informed him. "He is on a vacation in Miami right now, but there are signs of breaking in and there are some red human hairs on the basement floor. Maybe that is where they murdered Chuck and were hiding for a while." She examined the few valuables inside the summer house. "We are looking for something that may point us to their current location. They couldn't have stolen much from here though."

She ended the call and shoved the phone down her pocket. She then walked over to Derek, the documents in his hands having caught her attention.

"Everything OK with Henry?", he suddenly asked, looking up.

JJ shivered, but didn't look hesitant. "He started going to the child therapist. He will be OK", she said silently, trying to concentrate on the papers.

"Maybe you should have Spencer talk to him", Derek suggested.

JJ chuckled. "I will. He have offered to do us. We are treading lightly now." "Also, I'll have to go on a maternity leave soon, so I will be spending more time with him."

"That's good."

#

Spencer couldn't help but feel discomfort while talking to Jenny's aunt and uncle, Lyle and Anne Sayer. He was sitting on the living room couch , opposite to them who were sitting on the sofa. David was sitting next to Spencer, occasionally giving him encouraging glances but obviously feeling a discomfort of his own too. Lyle held Anne's hand tightly when she wiped her tears eyes.

"We know Jenny", she whispered. "She is not a killer."

Spencer tapped with his foot and looked around. "We can't know for sure is she taking parts in all of this volounterily, ma'am, but I am afraid that we have an overwhelming amount of evidence pointing to her involvement."

Jenny shuddered, looking down at the floor. "Oh My God..."

A short silence ensued. David squirmed on the couch. "Did she ever display any violent traits when growing up?", he asked. "Or radical beliefs?"

"No!", Lyle cried, sounding almost shocked at such question being thrown his way. "Jenny would accept all people the way they were. She didn't hate anyone."

Jenny suddenly looked up, a shadow of hope in her eyes. "I've seen... people making that... media pleas in such situations. Maybe we can do the same. Maybe that will... help her."

"When was the last time you had a contact with her", David asked, listening carefully.

"Did you know that she had a boyfriend?", Spencer asked, looking Lyle in the eyes.

Lyle smiled slightly. "Yes. Kyle. She would speak about him often. We met a few times. He seemed nice." He cringed. "I guess I should put the emphasis on "seemed"."

A look on Anne's face was desperate. "Please find her", she pleaded. "Whatever she has done, I'm sure she can redeem herself. She is not evil. We know that."

#

Savannah took a deep breath before clenching her fist and knocking at Rita's house door. Rita lived in a nice suburban house and there was, at first, nothing to suggest that something suspicious had been happening. Still, she had her doubts.

Soon, a confused looking middle aged man opened the door. He observed her for some time like he was trying to remember her from somewhere, he couldn't. Eventually, he just said: "Hello."

"Hello", Savannah repeated politely. "I'm Rita's doctor, Savannah Hayes." They shook hands. "I just wanted to make sure that she is doing OK. I take it you are her father?"

The man frowned. "Yes... but she's not in here right now, she has gone to see some friends. Do you want me to call her?"

Savannah shivered, then took a moment to consider a propostion. "Oh, don't bother. I'n sure she's doing fine."

#

That afternoon, after lunch, Spencer sat at the desk in his office and looked around. It still felt weird to be in Hotch's office, even though he has cleared most of his stuff. He picked up a small snowball from the desk and observed it. Had Hotch left it there? He put it down and then stared at his computer screen, thinking about studying the forensic report again.

What snapped him back to attention was a knock at the door. He looked up and saw Rossi standing there. He looked... almost thrilled. Spencer slowly stood up. "A New lead?"

"Yes. They found Chuck's car on the bottom of a river. No new bodies inside, thankfully. But we should probably still take a look."

#

Kyle supressed a groan upon walking into a club, trying to ignore the female forms dancing provocatively on the stage. He kept an eye on Jenny: she was following him, but didn't seem as uncomfortable. Many would glare at her, surprised to see a woman there, but luckily didn't pay too much of an attention.

They both sat at the counter and ordered martinies. As they were drinking it slowly, they kept looking around, keeping an eye on the middle aged Caucasian man who had been sitting at one of the tables in the opposite corner of the room, talking to some dancers. After a few minutes, he moved to the corner and walked up the stairs.

Kyle and Jenny exchanged an eye contact before putting the money on the counter an heading in his direction.

#

Later that night, Spencer looked at the naked body laying at his feet, trying to hide a discomfort obvious on his face. JJ took a deep breath while Derek studied the crime scene. There were ripped articles of clothing scattered all over the furniture and blood splatters on the walls.

"Dave Just, forty eight", Spencer explained. "The owner of this strip club. This was his office. Witnesses reported seeing a slightly stocky brown haired Caucasian man following him up there, followed by a young African American woman, that left about five minutes later with a briefcase and without Dave." He looked around. "One of the dancers got suspicious, went upstairs during the pause and found him."

JJ sighed. "He pistol whipped him and shot him multiple times. He is escalating."

"Some of it was probably so he would reveal the combination of the valut", Derek concluded. "I still have to go through the business records, from what I've seen, he probably had at least fifty thousand dollars in there."

"They undressed him. Probably post mortem."

"A forensic countermeasure?"

"Not what they were doing before. Also, they didn't take it with them or destroyed it. They ripped it and scattered it all over the office."

"They wanted to degrade him. The same way they think he had been degrading those women. And supporting sins."

"Some bruises are more severe than others and there are two types of bloody shoe prints on the scene", Spencer noted. "Taking in the account that and the witness statements, Jenny probably participated too."

"If anything, they are being more sloppy as well", JJ pointed out.

"But now they also have a substantial amount of money with them", Derek reminded them.

Spencer sighed. "Things are escalating generally speaking too. An hour ago a young man walked into the synagogue in the Philadelphia, pulled out the gun and started shooting. Carefully, two men managed to overpower him quickly. Some severe injuries, but no fatalities. No apparent connections to Kyle or Jenny."

Derek chimmed in. "It is not just Philadelphia. This morning, in Brooklyn, New York, a woman shot and killed her son, a teenager, also citing Kyle and Jenny's actions as her "inspiration", though she has no actual connection to them. Apparently her son had been drinking and stopped going to church."

"Things are escalating. If those two want their actions to leave a trace, make changes, they are sure succeeding."

Spencer took a deep breath. "It's time to deliver the profile."

#

Savannah was just finishing some paperwork when a young nurse opened the door to her ordination. "We have an emergency. A fifteen year old girl."

Savannah quickly pulled the latex gloves over her hands and walked into the hallway, following the nurse.

She was shocked to see Rita lying up on the strolling bed, being pushed to the emergency room by two paramedics. Her eyes were dull and watery and the foam was coming at her mouth.

"What happened to her?", Savannah cried, rushing down the hallway.

"We don't know for sure", the nurse admitted. "It looks like some kind of overdose, possibly Via valliums, but she also has a contusion to the back of her head. Her pulse is very low."

"It looks like she is falling into shock!", Savannah exclaimed.

They got to the emergency room quickly. The paramedics and the nurse put Rita on the hospital bed and Savannah walked over as started convulsing. She wiped the foam off her mouth and started pressing at the girl's chest, looking into her panicked eyes the whole time.

"Come on," Savannah whispered. "Hang on!"

"She doesn't appear to be breathing", the nurse exclaimed.

Savannah continued pressing at the girl's chest. She leaned over and inhaled in the girl's mouth, despite the potential risks, then continued performing the CPR on her, all the while aware that there was no pulse to the body at all.

#

The BAU team stood in the conference room in front of, several detectives and many uniformed police officers. Spencer was the one to begin delivering the profile.

"The man we are looking for is named Kyle Lake", he explained. "He is traveling with a woman named Jenny Smith, who is almost certainly a willing participant in his crimes."

David continued. "He is a Christian extremist with a deep seated hatred to everyone of a different religion."

Then it was Spencer's turn again. "He blames that kind of people for the abuse that he suffered in his childhood. He sees a religion as a part of his moral integrity and is willing to destroy anything and anyone who opposes his beliefs due to his ego and prejudice. His mother's death was likely the trigger."

"Jenny is obviously a submissive individual in this relationship as well as in this crime spree", David warned them. "She holds on to her religious beliefs as sort of an emotional refuge and in the same time craves for love and affection due to a rejection and abuse that she suffered in the past. However, she is growing more aggressive and dependant. However, if they were to be confronted with the police, she is the one you may try appealing to."

"They have murdered four people so far and have gone on a run after the FBI was called in to investigate their second and third murder", JJ reminded them. "They will definitely try to force their way out if cornerned and will react violently."

"Such actions, even if not interrupted, usually end up with double suicide or suicide by cop", Derek informed them. "So be careful."

"They can be hiding in motels, abandoned buildings", Spencer advised them. "Leave no stone unturned."

The rest nodded their heads and went around their business, heading to the exist and grabbing their phones and laptops. Spencer went back to his office while others were about to continue studying case files.

When Derek was about to move to the bullpen, his ringtone went off. He pulled out his phone and, seeing that Savannah was calling him, moved to the corner before answering. "Hallo?"

"Rita's dead."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.

Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.

Sorry about the late update! This is the final chapter.

The football league and it's simbol mentioned here are fictional.

Kim, one of the Dave's dancers, was sitting at the table in the interrogation room. She wore a pink top and jeans, and was shivering. She barely looked at JJ once the blonde walked into the room, closing the door behind. JJ put the file that she had in her hand down on the table and eyed the girl carefully. "I am a special agent Jennifer Jareu from FBI. I'm here to interrogate you."

Kim exhaled and rubbed her eyes. "OK."

"I know that you are the one who found the body", JJ explained softly.

Kim nodded her head as she bit her lower lip. "Yes. It was my break. It was unlike him to leave us alone for so long." She looked up at the ceiling, cupping her cheeks with her hands. "I went upstairs to his office... the door was ajar... and that's when I found him." She closed her eyes tightly and shuddered. "I can still see the blood..."

"I felt, as soon as those two went upstairs with him and then rushed outside without him, that something was wrong!", she cried.

JJ furrowed her eyebrows and opened the file, showing Kim the photographs of Kyle and Jenny. "Those two."

Kim looked at the photographs with wide eyes as she shivered. "Yes."

JJ closed the file. She frowned. "Do you remember anything else about them?"

Kim appeared confused. "What else? Those were them, I know that!"

"Something about their demeanor, physical appearance... something that could help us find out what they are planning to do next or where are they now."

Kim remained silent for a few moments, looking around the room at times. "Sorry, I don't remember", she admitted.

"Close your eyes and try to relax."

Kim just stared at her for some time, looking reluctant at best, but eventually did as advised.

"Good. Now think back to last night."

"I don't want to", Kim cried.

"Take it easy. Evetything's going to be all right."

Kim gulped and squirmed in her seat.

"Where were you?"

Kim took a deep breath. "I was just coming off the stage."

"What were you doing?"

"I was heading towards the break room..." She moaned.

"Is that's when you saw them."

Kim gritted her teeth. "Yes."

"Take it slow. Try to remember any detail about them. What they wore, how they behaved."

"The... the man was jumpy, looking around, pulling his hands in and out of his pockets, you know. The... the girl just followed him, she was kinda sheepish, almost scared, you know."

"Anything else?"

Kim shook her head. "He... had something sticking out of his pocket."

"What?"

Kim started frowning. "I... I can't remember."

"Calm down and stay focused. Try to remember."

"A... a key chain. White... with green striations... and..."

"And?"

Kim arched her back. "Small blue circles."

JJ wrote that down. "Anything else?"

"Mud... mud stains on their pants... and shoes." She opened her eyes and buried her face in her hands.

#

JJ smiled proudly at Spencer, who had been standing near by, once she walked out of the interrogation room, closing the door behind.

"Garcia ran a background check on", she informed her boss. "He had been convicted several times of theft and assault. He had been Kyle's cellmate for a while. And a month prior to his death, a local TV show ran a programme featuring his club and him. Apparently one of his dancers was a former fashion model. Stands to reason why Kyle went to him."

"Another close target", Spencer mumbled before forming a small smile. "At least we have some sort of a clue now", Spencer exclaimed. "They are hiding in Jenkingtown, probably a rural area."

JJ stared at him, surprised. Spencer noticed that. "That kind of a key chain, those designs, are a simbol of their local football league", he explained. "Relatively new one. The traces of mud on their pants and shoes points to a rural area. There are many there. If it had dried by that point and they went in and out quickly, they would have left little to no of it on the scene." He smiled. "Nice job."

"Thanks." She looked down at the floor and ran a hand through hair before asking Spencer what she wanted to know. "Is Derek OK?", she asked silently.

Spencer sighed. "He is mostly just worried about Savannah."

JJ nodded her head. "I hope that everything will turn out all right."

Spencer just nodded his head, staring longingly down the hallway.

#

Savannah blinked back tears, barely daring to look at Rita's parents, who were sitting on the bench in the hospital waiting room, staring blankly at the floor, their faces pale and their eyes watery.

Still, she had to confront them. She took a deep breath and walked towards to thwm, trying hard to resist the urge to run away with every step. When they spotted her, they both stood up almost immediately, slight hope appearing on their faces. It was painful to watch.

"I know you", Rita's father exclaimed. "You've treated my daughter. She must..."

"What they told you is true", Savannah said, feeling her heart ache. Her mouth went dry. She saw the parents' face fall. "I'm sorry. Your daughter is dead."

A silence. Short but heartbreaking silence. Those two people kept giving her looks that are a profound mixture of denial and confusion, and she couldn't have done anything to comfort them. "She can't be", the mother whispered, her jaw clenched.

"I'm sorry", Savannah repeated, feeling a lump form in her throat.

Rita's mother just stared at Savannah for a moment, realization settling in. It was then that she cried out and started sobbing, evebtually burrying her face in his husband's shoulder.

"What happened?", he whispered, looking absolutely shellschocked. "You told that she was OK..."

"That has nothing to do with her previous injuries... it looks like an overdose of some sort. And she has a fresh injury to the back of her head, so..."

"Our daughter would never use drugs!", his wife cried, sounding almost furious. Savannah shivered.

"It could have been Valium...", she explained. "Do you have any at your house?", she asked carefully.

He shook his head almost immediately, tears welling up in his eyes. "No", he said. "How could this happen?"

Savannah sighed and looked away, noticing two police detectives walking in the parents' direction.

#

Even after five years in prison, Andrew Smith still looked young and a bit of a smug. His dark eyes sparkled with a strange light as he sat beside Derek and David, his wrists handcuffed. CO who escorted him to there took a few steps back, but remained close by.

"FBI", he exclaimed, almost chuckling. "Nice to see you again", he added sarcastically.

"Kyle Lake." Andrew raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. David put another photograph in front of him. "Jenny Smith." Andrew's lips quivered, but he staid quiet. He waited for a moment before looking up at the agents. "Never heard of them or seen them before."

"They torched down a few mosquos and synagogues. And an abortion clinic. They have also murdered four people. A child molester, homosexuals... you know, standard stuff. The last one twenty four hours ago. They are currently on a run."

"Sounds like a thing." He smirked, titlting his head to the side. "You think I had something to do with it?"

"It's a possibility."

"Right. Except I'm in prison."

"You had many associates", David pointed out.

"With an emphasis on "had"".

Derek smirked. "Is that what great Andrew Smith has come to?" He noticed flinch. "Stuck in prisons, no followers..."

Andrew leaned over as he lowered his voice. "Oh, I will get out one day. But it's not my time yet." He leaned back in the chair, suddenly calm again. "All the respect for those two, but I have nothing to do with that. Look elsewhere."

#

David and Spencer sighed once they were escorted out of prison. They started walking down the parking lot. "Well, that was nauseating", David commented. "But I doubt he is in any way involved."

"He didn't seem concerned by our visit at all", Spencer said. "And he appeared surprised when we revealed him the names and showed him the photographs."

"According to his prison records, he didn't have much visitors or other contacts with the outside world lately", David added.

At that moment, Spencer's phone rang. He pulled it out and answered immediately

"Hallo, Garcia? OK. OK. Thank you." He ended the call, pulled the phone down his pocket and turned to David. "Garcia finished going through Chuck Walsh's phone records anemailwouldmostldmosty. He was mostly in contact with his boss, parole officer and few of the coworkers. During the last couple of months, Chuck would talk to a man named Shermain quite often. Shermain has a record for rape and armed robbery. And get this: they had been cellmates between 2007 and 2012. Also, Shermain got a parking ticket on a location close to Danny Lake's summer house on the day of Chuck's murder."

David frowned. "You think they Kyle might have used Shermain to get closer to Chuck?"

"I think we should definitely talk to him."

#

Detective Nick closed the drawers to Rita's writing desk. He caught a glimpse of one of the forensic techs walking down the stairs and was about to head the same way. He turned around and noticed Savannah walking into the room. He looked at her with surprise. "Ms. Hayes, what are you doing here?"

Savannah looked around, not quite sure what to say. "I see that you are finishing up."

Nick sighed, feeling where that was going. "Yes, because there is nothing to investigate. Teenagers get depressed often. She left the note", he said, showing Savannah the evidence bag with a paper inside, simple "I'm sorry" being written on it. "It's sad, but there is nothing more to that."

"Where did she get the Valium from? What about the injury to her head?"

"You must know that teenagers can get their hands on almost anything these days. Several experts confirmed that she must have hit with her head against the bed frame while having a seizure. And how have you managed to get in anyway?"

Savannah blushed and took a step back. "I convinced an officer out front that I have information about the case. I showed him my medical licence."

Nick glared at her."Do you?"

Savannah inhaled. "I feel, know that something is wrong. I think you should take another look."

Nick walked over to her, looking her in the eyes as he put his hands on his hips. "I am going to give you a minute to get out of here. That's all I'm going to say."

As soon as he left, Savannah walked over to Rita's writing desk. She pulled the laptop lid up and tried to gain access to the information on it, only the find a blank screen.

"Like somebody has deleted a hard drive...", she mumbled. She thought about that for a moment, then pulled out her phone and dialed Derek, who answered almost immediately.

"Hallo? Derek? Have Garcia look into the most frequent contacts on Rita's social media sites and run a background check on them. Something feels off to me."

#

Shermain tried to hear his nervousness once Spencer Reid and Leonard Keys walked into the interrogation room, closing the door behind. He wasn't very good at it. He was a tall and thin African American man with short hair, looking older than he had on his mugshot.

"You talked to Chuck a lot in the last couple of months", Leomard exclaimed, looking Shermain in the eyes. "And now he's dead."

"I didn't kill him", Shermain said.

"We believe you", Spencer said. "I think these two did." He opened the file, showing him the photographs of Kyle Lake and Jenny Smith. "Kyle Lake and Jenny Smith. Know them?"

Shermain only glanced at the photographs for a second before looking back up at Leonard and Spencer. "Never heard them or saw them before."

Leonard glared at him. "Really, Shermain?" He opened the file. Shermain gulped, his cheeks blushing. "And how do you explain this?" "We found traces of gasoline in your basement and in the trunk of your car. In your basement we found this cloth with traces of same gasoline on it. That type of gasoline and that type of cloths match to the ones used to set fire during the two months prior to Chuck's murder. And on the day of his death, you received a parking ticket not far away from the location where he was later murdered."

Shermain crossed his arms over his chest. "I have nothing to say. I want my lawyer."

Leonard and Spencer exchanged a look. Spencer nodded his head as they turned back to Shermain. "OK. You are going to get a lawyer." They both stood up, picking up their files. "And while you wait for him or her, we can go talk to the local police some more, to the DA... and given all these evidence and your criminal record... do you really have so much faith in your silence and your attorney."

They started walking away. Shermain looked after them for some time, then yelled. "Wait. Wait!"

Leonard and Spencer stopped and looked at Shermain. They smiled as they sat back at the table.

Shermain leaned over, his lips quivering. "Look, I did set fire to those places. With Chuck. But that's all I did, I swear!"

Spencer widened his eyes. "You set those fires?"

"Me and Chuck, yeah."

"How?", Leonard exclaimed. "And why?"

"I don't know why. He contacted me, I guess he looked into the phone book or something, said he needed my help with that, that he was going to pay me. So we did that."

Spencer glared at him. "That's all you did?"

Shermain shrugged. "Yeah."

"OK", Spencer pretended to agree. He leaned back in his chair. "Hopefully we can hold you to your word, it's not like we will find anything contradictory... not that we won't try."

Shermain looked away, fondling his hands together. "OK... after all that was done, he asked me to get him a gun. And I did."

"What kind of a gun?", Spencer asked.

"Revolver. .22 caliber."

"Where were you five days ago, when Chuck was killed?", Leonard asked.

Shermain's face fell. "I don't know, man. But he couldn't have been murdered then. I sold him that gun three days ago."

#

Within an hour, BAU team was gathered around the table in the conference room, thinking hard about the case. Spencer sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"We've been looking at this all wrong", Derek exclaimed.

"Kyle contacted them, hoping to buy their car", Spencer started. "He was probably busy so he sent Jenny to come."

David continued. "Jenny arrived and then went, with Wendy and Trudy, to their bedroom to discuss the deal. At one point Jenny went to the bathroom. It was then that Chuck entered the room and murdered both women, then abducted their daughter."

Spencer nodded his head. "Jenny remained hidden in the bathroom, probably peeping through the key hole. After Chuck left, she covered both bodies and lit a candle."

"She felt guilty because she wasn't brave enough to stop Chuck", JJ concluded.

"She was also afraid that the killer would go after her", Derek figured. "That he saw her car parked put front. And she had no idea who the killer was. Chuck was probably masked and didn't talk much."

"She could have simply gone to the police", Spencer suggested. "But she was afraid that, due to her relationship with Kyle and his past, they would both be considered suspects. So she wrote that ransom note, wiped the room clean of fingerprints, took the laptop and fled the scene. She called 911 from a local pay phone."

"She talked to Kyle", JJ continued. "He promised to take her to his brother's summer house where she could stay until the killer is caught."

Spencer was reaching to the end of the summation. "But Chuck did spot her car. He recognized it from the area, figured that Jenny was a potential witness. He began following her around, waiting for the right time to strike. It wasn't easy, due to all the about the murders and Heather now in his possession. But the things started progressing sooner than he thought. Kyle tried taking Jenny kut of town."

David nodded his head. "A lonely interstate. He kept bumping into them, forcing them to stop. They exited the car. Chuck had the gun, but Kyle fough him. He managed to get the gun away and shoot Chuck in the head, killing him. Enraged and remembering what Jenny told him about the murders, he shot him in the right hand as well."

"They transported him to the summer house and then, after a few hours, to a different interstate", JJ concluded.

"Due to conditions in the basement, the body decomposed too quickly", Derek added. "I've been there, it's moist and hot inside. Pipe problems."

JJ frowned. "But why did they drop the first plan?", she asked.

"They feel like they have gone too far and that nobody will believe them. And Kyle found Heather. He already felt himself depraved of a child. He didn't want to let her go. They have gone on a run."

"They tried extracting money from Dave", Spencer continued. "Maybe Kyle knew something about his past and threatened to reveal it. He led them to his office, opened the safe and pulled the gun at them. Forensics found one .45 caliber lodged in the wall and traces of gubshot residue underneath the blood on Dave's body. He managed to fire one shot and missed. But Kyle was once again faster. Then they exposed the body and stole the money and the gun."

"And why was Chuck setting those fires and sending those letters?", JJ was confused.

"He knew that he would be a prime suspect in case Heather were to get abducted", Spencer concluded. "He must have been stalking the family. Maybe they noticed something but didn't report him. And he must have heard about. He started setting those fires and sending those letters with Shermain's help. Due to a danger of setting fires and the fact that he had been walking with a limp, he needed the help. He also needed somebody to get the gun from. Then he murdered both spouses, abducted Heather and sent the third letter, hoping that all would be blamed on some Christian extremists. There is no direct reference to his murder in the last letter because he didn't write it."

The silence fell over the room. Everyone were silent, deep in thought. Eventually, Spencer spoke up. "We know that they are hiding in, rural areas. But there are many rural areas there. Lots of abandoned house. Some of them maybe aren't even listed anymore. And we can't know for sure are they still there."

Suddenly, Spencer frowned and picked up one of the papers, reading the writing on it carefully. His face lit up. "The camp. Where he met Cheyene. It is there. It has been closed since 2012."

#

Gina kept looking around the interrogation room. She was of average height and weight, with a long black hair and black eyes, only a year younger than Rita. She actually looked relieved once Nick walked into the room and sat at the table, opposite to her, but that soon faded.

"We arrested your dad, Gina." Her facial expression turned panicked. Nick continued. "He had a cocaine and Valium in his possession. We will have a medical professional examine you. You think we won't discover the bruises and stuff?"

 

Gina looked down at the floor, trying not to cry. Nick leaned closer.

"You and Rita. How close you really were?"

Gina remained silent.

"We have been informed through an anonymous tip that you two have been active on social media sites, communicating a lot together, and that your dad has several theft and assault convictions. We checked-it is true. Do you want anyone else to possibly find out all that or come clean finally? After all, her family deserves answers."

Gina looked up at him slowly, shivering. "She was my... girlfriend... you know?"

"I know."

Gina ran a hand through her hair. "We would meet secretly. After school. In my room, mostly."

Nick raised his eyebrows at her. "And your father?"

"He would take it all out on me. Often. I think he... suspected. Rita would try to defend me... but she wasn't strong enough."

Nick nodded his head. "Hence her injuries."

Gina groaned. "Rita didn't want people to know. Neither did I. And if they were going to put my dad away, I would end up in some sort of a home." She widened her eyes at Nick. "Do you think that is why... she did that?"

#

The place was dusty and dirty from the inside. Most of the windows were watched in awe as Kyle was spiiling gasoline all over the residence. They both jumped in place as the BAU came rushing in.

Kyle dropped the gasoline canister on the floor, pulled out his gun and pointed it at the agents. They did the same. Jenny stood near by, shuddering.

"Kyle, drop the gun", Spencer ordered.

Kyle looked calmly at them. "I've reached my destination." Jenny shifted in her spot and shivered. She tried making an eye contact with at least one of the agents.

"We know that you didn't murder Wendy or Trudy", JJ said. "And that you murdered Chuck in self defense."

"You just want me to surrender."

"True, we want you to surrender. Because That's for the best."

"Look at Jenny. She's scared."

"You love her, right? You don't want her to be scared."

"You believe in God, right?", Spencer questioned politely, his hand still firmly holding the gun. Kyle nodded his head. "Well, try believing in us. Just try, Kyle. Play your cards right, don't do anything stupid, and you won't go back to prison, and neither will Jenny. I promise you." He took a deep breath. "We promise you."

Klye shivered, sweat rolling down his face. "What about Heather?", he whispered.

Spencer sighed, feeling his heart thunder against his chest. "You can't keep her, Kyle. But let us help you and you can create a family of your own."

"Jenny won't betray you the way Lyndsay did", David added.

Kyle looked at Jenny, then at the agents, then at Jenny again.

He then dropped his gun.

"Heather is in our car", he said tiredly. "It is parked near by."

The others sighed and holstered their guns. Kyle walked over to Jenny and hugged her.

#

His bedroom was in dark. He was lying face up on the bed, naked from the waist up, sometimes looking around nervously.

His heart skipped a beat once he heard the sound of a near by bathroom door being pulled open. But when Savannah walked out of it, she said nothing. She didn't even look at him. She sat down on the bed, turning away from Derek, shivers obvious at her skin and her breathing shallow. Derek moved closer to her, but didn't touch her or say anything. He felt she needed... some time.

"She visited me three times in two months. I shared my suspiciouns with her the last time. I went to her house the next day, only her father was there. He told her that I had been looking for her." She stopped for a moment, tears running down her face. "She knew that I was on to her. She couldn't handle that and..."

Derek moved closer. "Savannah..."

She was crying now, trying to look away from him. "She took Valium... she stole it from her girlfriend's father."

She continued sobbing, unable to process his words. He held her closer, feeling her tears rolled down her skin. She was writhing."

"Savannah, you did nothing wrong", he said softly. "As far as you knew, Rita could have been in danger." He stroked her hair.

Savannah shuddered. "She had problems...", Derek explained. "This is tragic, but it is not your fault."

Savannah gulped. She bit her lower lip and pressed her body harder against Derek. "I wish I could believe that."

Derek kissed her forehead and held her close, wishing there was more he could have done.

Derek Morgan: ~We need never to be ashamed of our tears.~ Charles Dickens


End file.
